Home Office

Response to public consultation on the Draft Statutory Guidance on the Serious Violence Duty (the Duty) and publication of the finalised Statutory Guidance

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Act received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022 and it includes provisions for the Serious Violence Duty. The Duty requires, specified authorities, namely police, fire and rescue services, health, local authorities, youth offending teams and probation services to work collaboratively, share data and information and put in place a strategy to prevent and reduce serious violence. Educational authorities and prisons/youth custodial institutions are also under a separate duty to co-operate with specified authorities. As announced in the then Crime and Policing Ministers statement of 9 June 2002, the Government held a formal public consultation on a Draft Statutory Guidance. This guidance is issued by the Secretary of State under Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the PCSC 2022 and supports the specified authorities across England and Wales in exercising their functions under the Duty prior to its commencement on 31 January 2023. Via the consultation, we sought views on the contents of the guidance including policy intentions for the secondary legislation, which were laid on 12 December, and we also requested separate feedback on what support partners might find beneficial to enable them to implement the Duty effectively. This insight has helped finalise our plans for a local support offer. Further case studies were also requested which will form part of this package of local support. We would like to thank all those who contributed to the consultation, including those who officials engaged with directly through a series of sessions. The views received covered a range of issues but there was clear consensus on key areas that needed clarifying. This included clearer local accountability and responsibilities for local partnerships and Police and Crime Commissioners and additional clarity on the inclusion of domestic abuse and sexual offences under the Duty. These are set out in the Government’s consultation response along with our plans for commencement of the Duty and addressed in the revised statutory guidance which are both published today. A copy of the consultation response and the statutory guidance will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and also made available on GOV.UK.

Department for Education

Education Funding Update

Baroness Barran: The Department for Education has announced the next 239 schools to be provisionally selected for the School Rebuilding Programme and has also confirmed schools, high needs and early years revenue funding allocations for 2023-24 across England.The School Rebuilding Programme was launched in June 2020 and will rebuild or significantly refurbish buildings at 500 schools and sixth form colleges over the next decade. Including the 161 projects previously announced, this announcement means that 400 schools have now been selected for the programme. Projects will enter delivery at a rate of approximately 50 per year, and will transform the educational environment for hundreds of thousands of children in the poorest condition schools.To ensure we are delivering the greatest improvement to the school estate, each school in the programme has been selected from nominations based on the condition and safety of its buildings. Selected schools include primary, secondary and special schools and sixth form colleges.Construction of new buildings at some of the previously announced schools is already underway, with a number of projects almost completed. These projects are supporting jobs and skills in local communities and driving productivity and innovation in the construction sector. New buildings will be net zero carbon in operation, incorporating modern designs and technologies, contributing to our sustainability commitments.In addition to the School Rebuilding Programme, we are continuing to invest in the school estate with annual capital funding. We have allocated over £13 billion since 2015 to maintain and improve school facilities across England, including £1.8 billion in financial year 2022-23. We have also allocated an additional £500 million in capital funding to schools and colleges this financial year for energy efficiency upgrades, helping to reduce energy use during the winter months and beyond.Details of the schools selected for the programme and more information about the methodology used have been published on GOV.UK.On funding, we are allocating the additional net £2 billion for schools announced at the Autumn Statement.Overall, core schools funding is increasing by £3.5 billion in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23. School funding will be at its highest ever level in real terms per pupil by 2024-25, totalling £58.8 billion.This includes an increase in mainstream school funding, for the 5-16 age group, of over £2.5 billion in 2023-24, compared to 2022-23. High needs funding is increasing by almost £1 billion in total.As part of this increase, mainstream schools will receive a new, Mainstream Schools Additional Grant (MSAG) for primary and secondary provision in the 2023-24 financial year. This equates to a 3.4% increase in per pupil funding for mainstream schools, on top of the allocations through the Dedicated Schools Grant, which we are also publishing.The detailed methodology for allocating this new grant is published at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mainstream-schools-additional-grant-2023-to-2024The Dedicated Schools Grant allocations are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2023-to-2024Maintained special and alternative provision schools and academies will also receive supplementary Autumn Statement funding, delivered by placing a new condition of grant on local authorities' use of their high needs allocations.Pupil premium per pupil rates in 2023-24 will increase by 5%. This will increase pupil premium funding to £2,865 million in 2023-24, an increase of £180 million from 2022-23. This increase will ensure that this targeted funding continues to support the most disadvantaged children in our schools.Finally, for Early Years, we have published the Government response to the Early Years Funding Formulae consultation launched on 4 July 2022, confirmed the hourly funding rates for the free early education entitlements in 2023-24 for each local authority, and announced their indicative allocations.Reflecting the recently announced National Living Wage increases, we are investing an additional £20 million into the early years entitlements. This is on top of the £180 million for 2023-24 announced at the Spending Review. Taken together, this will mean at national level, early years providers are supported with the additional National Living Wage costs associated with delivering the free childcare entitlements next year.We have updated the data underpinning the early years funding formulae, and have confirmed the approach to protections set out in the consultation to ensure the transition to new funding levels implied is manageable. The minimum funding floor for the three- and four-year-old funding rate will therefore increase from £4.61 per hour in 2022-23 to £4.87 per hour in 2023-24. All local authorities will see at least a 1% increase in their funding rates in 2023-24, and up to a maximum of 4.9% for the three and four-year-old rate and up to 10% for the two-year-old rate. We will also increase the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) and Disability Access Fund (DAF) rates, from 60p to 62p per hour for the EYPP, and from £800 to £828 per child per year for DAF.For Maintained Nursery Schools (MNS), we are confirming the additional £10 million announced on 4 July 2022, providing for a minimum hourly rate of £3.80 per hour for MNS supplementary funding for all local authorities in 2023-24, and a £10 cap on the hourly rate, with transitional arrangements for the most affected local authority. We intend to maintain the cap at that level in 2024-25.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Environment Update

Lord Benyon: Final Environmental Targets under the Environment Act 2021This government is committed to leaving the environment in a better state than we found it. Following our consultation earlier in the year, we are confirming an ambitious suite of targets to deliver on that commitment.These targets will tackle some of the biggest pressures facing our environment. They will ensure progress on clean air, clean and plentiful water, less waste and more sustainable use of our resources, a step change in tree planting, a better marine environment, and a more diverse, resilient natural environment.The thirteen targets that will be laid through statutory instruments are as follows: Biodiversity on land To halt the decline in species abundance by 2030.To ensure that species abundance in 2042 is greater than in 2022, and at least 10% greater than 2030.Improve the Red List Index for England for species extinction risk by 2042, compared to 2022 levels.To restore or create in excess of 500,000 hectares of a range of wildlife-rich habitat outside protected sites by 2042, compared to 2022 levels.Biodiversity in the sea 70% of the designated features in the MPA network to be in favourable condition by 2042, with the remainder in recovering condition.Water quality and availability Abandoned metal mines target: Halve the length of rivers polluted by harmful metals from abandoned mines by 2038, against a baseline of around 1,500 km.Agriculture target: Reduce nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and sediment pollution from agriculture into the water environment by at least 40% by 2038, compared to a 2018 baseline.Wastewater target: Reduce phosphorus loadings from treated wastewater by 80% by 2038 against a 2020 baseline.Water Demand Target: Reduce the use of public water supply in England per head of population by 20% from the 2019/20 baseline reporting year figures, by 2037/38.Woodland cover Increase total tree and woodland cover from 14.5% of land area now to 16.5% by 2050.Resource efficiency and waste reduction Reduce residual waste (excluding major mineral wastes) kg per capita by 50% by 2042 from 2019 levels.Air quality An Annual Mean Concentration Target for PM2.5 levels in England to be 10 µg m-3 or below by 2040.A Population Exposure Reduction Target for a reduction in PM2.5 population exposure of 35% compared to 2018 to be achieved by 2040. The suite of targets that we consulted on was the result of significant scientific evidence collection and development over preceding years that included input from evidence partners and independent experts, supported by over 800 pages of published evidence. We have full confidence in the final suite of targets, which represents the robust analysis already undertaken. These targets are stretching and will be challenging for us to meet, whether that is through Government, through business or indeed at home in our individual lives through choices we make. In turn this will support action to tackle climate change, restore our natural capital and protect our much-loved landscapes and green spaces.We will set out more details about our plans to deliver them in our Environmental Improvement Plan: our manifesto for the environment for the next 5 years. We publish this by 31 January, as required by law. The government response to the consultation will be published on gov.uk.